AIUI the rain and light sensors are combined in the mirror housing, so if there's a problem with one it's quite likely there's a problem with the other too.

HSE has always had auto wipers and auto lights, I believe.

Personally I don't use the auto lights (I prefer to decide for myself when they're on), but I do use the auto wipers and most of the time I find I don't need to touch them, they just work. There's a sensivity control (doubles as the intermittent wipe speed) which can take a bit of fiddling to get right, but once set it's pretty good.

The auto wipers fall back to intermittent on failure, so it sounds as though, again, you have a sensor problem as you have intermittent rather than auto. Removing the fuse for the auto wipers also causes them to fall back to intermittent mode.

From the outset in 2006 I believe all models GS and upwards came with Auto lights and Auto wipers. (both my 2007MY GS and my current 2008MY GS have auto on wipers and lights)

Check the connections behind the mirror are plugged in properly as they can be a bit fiddly, failing that just get a new sensor, they are not that difficult to remove.

I've had the sensor off and it seems to be covered in what feels like silicon grease the wire going to it was on the wrong side of the bracket for the rear view mirror stopping the plastic cover from clipping together properly.

I've cleaned off the grease and rerouted the wire and put it back together and its still the same so I would think the sensor is indeed U/S so after my week away I'll be going back to the car dealer I bought it off, he did say iff I have any problems to go back to see him and one of the keys isn't holding a charge either so I'll try to get another one of those as well.

Bizzie wrote:

Thanks dunkley201 I love driving it and just did a 200m round trip to see my daughter in Bolton got no back ache like I did in the Chevy I had before this car.

I had a Freelander 1 TD4 before the Chevy and always found it really comfortable on long journeys, the real test will be on Saturday when we travel From Scunthorpe to Scotland over 200 miles in one go.

I think that the sensor for the lights may be in the brake for the rear view mirror it doesn't look right to me but I will have to wait till I'm back from Scotland to see what the dealer says if it can be repaired under warrantee, if not I'll just use the manual switch.

Got back yesterday from my trip to the Scottish borders and can say that after doing around 1000 miles in a week with over 200 miles each way to get there and back i found this to be the most comfortable car I've ever owned.

I ordered a second hand rain/headlight sensor off epay and after fitting it the lights are just the same, so checked both sensors with a multi meter thinking they must contain on or two light dependant resistors.

I can only get any sort of reading across two of the three pins and it makes no difference which way round the meter leads are or of the light is blocked from the sensor or not this is not how I'd expect it to read so I'm not sure if the "new" sensor is also faulty or there is another problem.

It is possible to have a dealer set the lights to "Scandinavian Mode" so they are on all the time with the ignition (like Volvos!). This might have been done to your car? Although I think they would normally come on even if not set to auto. Perhaps someone has done a DIY job to achieve the same effect?
The salesperson who sold me my car ("ex-demo", ie her personal transport) said she always drove with the lights on as it's safer. Even with DRLs I tend to agree with her. Ex AA Series III LWB Safari - Gone
300TDi Disco (bought new - terrible car) sent back after 18 months
Freelander 1 Estate - leased, given back at end of lease
200TDi Disco (bought from a mate with 100,000 on the clock) - Gone
Disco 2 TD5 - sold and exported to France
FR2 TD4 GS - Gone
FR2 SD4 HSE - Now changed for a DS
New model ex-demo Evoque S 180 in white
Unable to order a new DS, so gave up. Now have a Volvo S90 Recharge.

Recently I have been driving along on a hot sunny day and suddenly the auto wipers have come on for one wipe only, so far it's happened three times with no rain around whatsoever. I was wondering if perhaps an insect has hit the sensor, any thoughts? 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

Hello everyone,

I have just bought a freelander for the first time, and I pick it up on Friday afternoon, and I can't wait. I did come very close to buying a Freelander when they very first came out, I cam very close to buying a Discovery as I like the looks.
I worked for the RAF as civvy in the MT section and I just loved to work on the Air Drop Land Rovers we had. I then joined the Army where I really got to play with Land Rover. The only issue I had with them was that as I am tall the one position only driving seat was not the best for driving as I was to ontop of the pedals, but dispite that I love our Section V8 that we had.

Digger

I've had the FL2 back to the dealers and they diagnosed the screen sensor as faulty so a new one was fitted but neither the auto wipers or the auto headlights are working properly still.

There are no fault codes showing now so the mechanic is now stuck and run out of time to carry on with it so it's now booked in again on the 27th when their other mechanic will be back at work to assist, but he did think it may be the light switch untill I pointed out that the wipers aren't right either.

These are minor things really and if I was paying for the repairs I wouldn't bother as it's easy enough to switch the lights and wipers on.

He also looked at the non working key and told me he left the car running for an hour to charge the battery even though I told him already that I'd done a 4 hour drive to Scotland with the faulty key in the dock.

A quick update as my Freelander has been back in the garage and is now sorted the auto Headlights and wipers are now working as they should and it was blown fuse that was the cause, couldn't get a new key though they said the warrantee company won't pay for a key as it works intermittently when the mechanic tried it although I can't get it to work at all unless it's been in to charge on a long journey. 2007 Freelander 2 HSE

Just like a dealer to fit a new unit and then discover it was a blown fuse! To be fair, it could have been the old unit that blew the fuse.
There are companies out there who will refurbish a key for not too many pounds. Do a search on here and you'll find them. Although a good tip is to use a friend's address - you don't want just anyone knowing your address and having a key to your car! Ex AA Series III LWB Safari - Gone
300TDi Disco (bought new - terrible car) sent back after 18 months
Freelander 1 Estate - leased, given back at end of lease
200TDi Disco (bought from a mate with 100,000 on the clock) - Gone
Disco 2 TD5 - sold and exported to France
FR2 TD4 GS - Gone
FR2 SD4 HSE - Now changed for a DS
New model ex-demo Evoque S 180 in white
Unable to order a new DS, so gave up. Now have a Volvo S90 Recharge.

The old unit was definitely u/s as it generated a fault code which disappeared after the new one was fitted and he said he checked the fuses before fitting the new sensor and they were OK then, but I'm just pleased its all fixed and as far as the key goes I can fit a new battery I'm used to playing with electronics so not too bothered about that. 2007 Freelander 2 HSE

I notice a noise like a whine coming from the back end somewhere that seemed to be getting louder but the wife couldn't hear it so I thought it must be me imagining it then my daughter got in the car and asked what that noise is.

Today I took it back to the dealer I bought it from and the mechanics have concluded that its the diff again but the boss isn't in while Monday for them to check on the warrantee or who did the diff repair as they did have two that were done at the same time and they were recon diffs from two different companies.

I've only had the car since 19th of June so still in Warrantee I think. 2007 Freelander 2 HSE

FL2 went back in yesterday for the diff to be fixed again they say I should get it back on Monday, covered under warrantee and they apologised for the inconvenience cause. 2007 Freelander 2 HSE

Not got the FL2 back yet the company who supplied the diff say its not the diff and will be the Haldex unit so want to test the car themselves.

It's going to them tomorrow morning, i want it sorted I'm sick of driving the Passat they lent me it's too low and I can't get in and out very well due to my arthritis and it's a manual box and I keep forgetting to change gear. 2007 Freelander 2 HSE